ZONE A: SALAR
- Attractions of San Pedro: San Pedro de Atacama is known as the archaeological capital of Chile. The town is very old, with permanent inhabitants for at least 2,500 years. On this excursion you will be able to visit the town square and church and two of the largest archaeological sites in San Pedro: the Pukará de Quitor, a 10th century fortress built with mud and white volcanic rock; and the village of Tulor, built with adobe in curved and organic shapes, with an enigmatic history that represents the origin of the town.
Type of Activity: Hiking or Biking
Duration: Half day, 2: 30hs
Difficulty: Low
- Ayllus: It means "family" in Quechua, the language of the Incas. This is how the villages in Tawantinsuyu, Inca Kingdom, were organized for the employment of men in collective work tasks. San Pedro de Atacama today has 15 Ayllus, located around the historic center, you can visit its fields, observe the ancient layout of irrigation canals, see native and introduced flora and fauna and learn about this way of life that it has remained relatively intact for millennia.
Type of Activity: Hiking, Biking or Horseback riding
Duration: Half day, 2: 30hs
Difficulty: Low
- Valley of the Moon: The Valley of the Moon is, without a doubt, the most famous natural attraction in the Antofagasta region. It is located less than ten kilometers from San Pedro, located in the middle of the Cordillera de la Sal, you will be able to know its enormous walls of sedimentary rock and some of the most popular points of the sector such as the Duna Mayor, Las Tres Marías, El Mirador de Kari, and the Salt Canyon.
Type of Activity: Hiking or Biking.
Duration: Half day, 3: 00hs
Difficulty: Low
- Barrancas: You can explore El Valle de la Muerte, another sector of the Cordillera de la Sal, from where you get a fantastic panoramic view of the town of San Pedro, the Central Cordillera of the Andes, and the imposing Atacama basin. The route is mainly flat, on a rocky surface.
Type of Activity: Horseback riding or Hiking.
Duration: Half day, 3: 00hs
Difficulty: Low
- Devil`s Throat: The "Cordillera de la Sal" is made up of endless water paths, normally dry, but “Treacherous” in the rainy season; You will be able to explore one of those paths that stands out for the enormity of its clay and plaster walls, and that ends at a large dry waterfall: La Quebrada or Garganta del Diablo.
Type of Activity: Horseback riding, Biking or Hiking.
Duration: Half day, 3: 00hs
Difficulty: Medium
- Aldea Toconao and Soncor Sector: You will visit Los Flamencos National Reserve, the most diverse in the country in terms of biomes, which owes its name to the three endemic flamingo species in northern Chile. There is no better place to observe these majestic birds than the Burro Muerto River, in the Soncor Sector. You can also visit the traditional village of Toconao on the way, with its houses made of Volcanic Rock and ancient gardens of beautiful greenery, which makes a counterpoint to the extreme aridity of the Atacama Basin.
Type of Activity: Hiking.
Duration: Half day, 3: 00hs
Difficulty: Low
ZONE B: INTERMEDIATE CREEKS
- Guatin: Between the dryness of the Salar and the imposing Puna are the intermediate streams. The Vilama River is one of the most beautiful and interesting, where the cardón or pasakana cacti grow solitary.You can choose two routes from Guatin: ascending to the Puritama Hot Springs, or descending to the Gatchi archaeological site. Both routes have a similar duration and difficulty.
Type of Activity: Hiking.
Duration: Half day, 3: 00hs
Difficulty: Medium
- Termas de Puritana: The volcanism of the Andes is always the protagonist, be it because of the beauty of its peaks, the eruptions that renew the richness of the soil, or because of the endless sources of thermal water that they produce. Among these geothermal manifestations, a very striking one corresponds to the Puritama River, which rises from volcanic rock at a temperature of 37ºC, and is ideal for swimming. You can explore the area that has high-level facilities and a series of handcrafted pools.
Type of Activity: Hiking or Biking.
Duration: Half day, 3: 00hs
Difficulty: Medium
- Talabre: One of the great virtues of the Atacama Desert is that it is full of authentic places, which preserve in their interior the essence of the simple and contemplative life of yesteryear. Talabre represents that Atacameño spirit eloquently, you can visit its ancient cultivation terraces, as well as sites of ancestral petroglyphs in the Patos and Guezala ravines, all this, against the backdrop of the most active volcano in Chile, the furious Lascar.
Type of Activity: Hiking or Biking.
Duration: Half day, 3: 30hs
Difficulty: Low
ZONE C: PUNA
- Tatio Geysers: The Tatio Geysers correspond to the largest geothermal field in the southern hemisphere, with a huge variety of manifestations, from small fumaroles and bubbling wells to beautiful water sources such as geysers. You can visit them in a panoramic way (from the vehicle) or on foot, on the way it is possible to see vicuñas, foxes, donkeys and flamingos, it is also possible to bathe in an artificial pool specially installed in the geothermal field.
Type of Activity: Hiking
Duration: Full day, 7:00 hs
Difficulty: Medium
- Pueblos del Alto Loa: A historical and cultural experience at the beginning of the plateau where there are still some villages that preserve the ancient traditions of the Lickan Antay ethnic group, such as Caspana and Chiu-Chiu. Caspana is located at almost 4000 meters high , and preserves one of the oldest farming systems in the region, in a privileged environment that mixes desert, oasis and plateau. Chiu-chiu used to be the capital of Atacama La Baja, counterpart of the power centered in San Pedro, and boasts the oldest church in Chile, the church of San Francisco de Chiu-chiu.
Type of Activity: Hiking
Duration: Full day, 7:00 a.m.
Difficulty: Low